live dealers Archives - DealerRefresh

March 22 by Jeff Kershner -

Live Dealer Chat – Exclusive Interview with Contact At Once!

Last week’s announcement by Autotrader.com, combined with previous announcements by Cars.com and other

automotive website providers, shines the spotlight on live dealer live chat.

Many of us are asking questions about what this means for our dealerships, so I conducted an exclusive interview with Marc Hayes, the founder and head of products for Contact At Once! whose software powers the live chat features on both Autotrader.com and Cars.com.

Jeff: What are the implications of last week’s Autotrader.com announcement?

Marc: The broad implication is that, if live chat wasn’t already a mainstream technology in automotive retail, it is now. The momentum behind dealer chat has been building for several years with adoption by Cars.com, CarsDirect, and others. Now Autotrader.com has implemented chat. Dealers that don’t already have a chat strategy will need to develop one.

Jeff: Chat is a 15+ year old technology so, unlike other trends born of “new” technologies, such as social networking, why is chat just now trending in automotive retail?

Ryan Everson's Ultimate Guide to Not Get Forked by Vendors
I just wrapped up a week at Digital Dealer with my team and one of the most valuable sessions for me was the peer strategy roundtables. At these roundtables, I kept hearing fellow dealers share vendor horror stories which led them to be understandably weary of future (and probably completely... Ryan Everson's Ultimate Guide to […]
CRM. More bad than good?
I have spent the last 15 years of my career either running or building CRM systems. I have written numerous articles on DealerRefresh in support of them and even how to buy them. To say I have been a CRM advocate is an understatement. Yesterday, @Jeff Kershner and I were talking... CRM. More bad than […]
Advice on Craigslist ad posting services
The group I work for is looking into options for craigslist ad posting services. Specifically we would like to know about providers that allow dealers to send an inventory feed and then the cars are manually added to Craigslist every day. Who out there has something like this? Any experiences... Advice on Craigslist ad posting […]
Craigslist Posting Multiple Inventory in Multiple Cities
I could talk for days on this topic. Google analytics is showing HUGE numbers for CL. This month alone we have sold many cars from cities on craigs outside of our area. Wow! That evidence is over whelming. However, making these ads stick is a ongoing struggle. Does anyone have multiple accounts... Craigslist Posting Multiple […]
Guide for UTM-tagging URLs
I take so much from the Dealer Refresh site, always want to make sure I'm sharing enough. I share the document below nearly every day with some new digital agency who can't seem to figure out how to properly UTM-tag campaign URLs. Click here to download: http://bit.ly/UTMinstructions... Guide for UTM-tagging URLs
One Price Dealers: how do you set prices?
What kind of methods are one price dealers coming up with for establishing a competitive price on a car? Open to hearing about both new and used car methods.
Dealer.com Sites are Down!!!
We are noticing wide spread outages for Dealer.com sites....It may be time to move on. View attachment 3708

Jeff Kershner
I’m the founder of DealerRefresh. I got my start in the dealer business when I was 18. From there I've worked throughout several departments within fixed to variable ops. Whether it’s managing the desk, perfecting sales process or studying online marketing and media trends, I absolutely love this business and the challenges it brings. On top of keeping up with DealerRefresh, I consult with dealerships and key industry businesses. My passion has been and continues to be helping dealers leverage new media to sell and improve customer service.
Alex Snyder
Alex was born into the car business. His family owns a group of stores in Virginia where he held a multitude of positions since he first cut the grass there in 1989. DealerRefresh caught his attention in 2006 and he has been a part of the community ever since. In 2010 Alex joined Dealer.com to help put a dealer's spin on products; where he got a front row seat to converse with over 13,000 dealers and watch 2 acquisitions totaling over $5 Billion. Today, Alex lives in Vermont and works to make DealerRefresh amazing!